Employment Law in Singapore

Know your rights, either as an employer, or employee

Employment law is a broad area, and I.R.B Law are experts across this field of law, acting for both employers and employees.

The Employment Act of Singapore (Chapter 91) is the principal statute that regulates the employer/employee relationship. It expresses the terms and conditions for the employee covered by the Act. Compared to European standards, it is lightly regulated. This is to help secure foreign talent and capital. However, in recent years employees have received more entitlements, such as maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, and shared parental leave.

Singapore has two categories of employees:

• Employees who are covered under the EA. This covers most employees in the service of an employer.
• Employees who are not covered under the EA. Those not covered include seafarers, domestic workers, civil servants, and statutory board employees.

For employees, we can represent and advise you on matters including:

• Employment contract disputes
• Religious/racial/sexual discrimination in the workplace
• Employee share option schemes
• Salary disputes
• Unfair/wrongful dismissal
• Harassment and bullying in the workplace
• “Garden Leave” matters

If you’re an employer, we represent and advise you on matters including:

• Drafting of employment contracts, confidentiality agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and restrictive covenants
• Breach of employment contracts and disputes
• General employments matters, and employer’s rights
• Breach of restrictive covenants and non-competing clauses
• Retrenchment packages

Please get in touch to discuss your particular situation. We’ll be able to advise you of your potential options, recommended next steps, and potential fees involved.